ENT37 Another Man's Trash
by A Rhea King
Summary: Enterprise rescues a Suliban and his three grandchildren -- one which is half human. But who is he running from? And is the half human, half Sulban child another Suliban experiment?
1. Chapter 1

ONE MAN'S TRASH

by A. Rhea King

**CHAPTER 1**

Hoshi stepped into Archer's ready room, smiling when he smiled. He had his arm strapped to him with a blue sling and the bruise on his head was still an ugly green color. He was using a single crutch to hobble back to his desk chair.

"Sir... Aren't you supposed to be _sitting_?"

"I am sitting." Archer eased himself into his chair. "See?"

"I meant in your quarters. With your leg up. That was Doctor Phlox's order, wasn't it?"

"I was bored, Ma Hoshi." Archer smiled at her. "Needed to see my bridge and it's a good thing I did too. Had some business that needed my attention here."

Hoshi shook her head. "You're an awful patient, sir. It's a wonder Doctor Phlox even let you out of Sickbay."

Archer grinned. "I ordered him."

"Uh-huh."

"I did!"

"Right. You wanted to see me, sir?" Hoshi asked.

Archer chuckled. "Can't pull the wool over your eyes, can I Hoshi? Have a seat." Archer motioned to the chair across from him, turning back to his monitor.

Hoshi sat down on the edge of the chair, folding her hands in her lap. Archer finished what he was working on and then turned to her.

"How are you doing this morning?" Archer asked her.

"Well, sir. I think I ate too much for breakfast though."

Archer chuckled. "Chef's blueberry crumb cake does that every time, doesn't it? Think I'll have to skip lunch today."

"So will I, sir."

Archer leaned forward, resting an arm on the edge of his desk. "Do you recall the Bitanag language?"

"Yes. Kind of hard to forget it after all we went through."

"I remember you saying it sounded like whale songs. Do you remember that comment?"

"Yes. It sounded exactly like whale songs, sir."

"Well, Starfleet contacted me yesterday afternoon and told me marine biologists have been able to understand whales and dolphins using the language. How about that?"

Hoshi chuckled. "Wow!"

"Wow is what they were saying too. The marine science community has been talking about it for weeks and it's been all over the news. They said you and T'Pol translated a language that is several _million_ years old."

"So what do whales and dolphins talk about, sir?"

"I'll have to ask next time I talk to Admiral Garner. I gave Admiral Garner a hard time, though. I told him that all those scientists just weren't looking hard enough when they looked in your direction."

Hoshi's eyes narrowed a little. "And you did, sir?"

Archer laughed. "I always knew you were good, Hoshi, I just never realized how good. But after eight years of working with you, I've learned to pay a little closer attention to what goes on at that communications console."

Hoshi laughed.

"You know the awards dinner is Friday, don't you?" Archer asked her.

"Yes. Elizabeth was so excited when she was told she is being promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade."

"She's earned it. And so have you."

Hoshi's smile wavered until it was gone. "What?"

"You're being promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade. Actually, you already have been. I just have to give you the collar pips to make it official."

"So...what...what does that mean?"

"It means instead of me yelling, 'Ensign, I wanna know what they're saying now!', I'll be yelling, 'Lieutenant, I wanna know what they're saying now!' I think it'll do a good job of confusing you and Malcolm for the first few weeks." Archer smiled.

Hoshi didn't return the smile. She looked down at the floor.

"Is there something wrong, Hoshi?"

"No...sir. I have a lot of work to do today. I'm just distracted." Hoshi offered a weak smile.

Archer's companel beeped. He reached out and tapped it. "Archer here."

"Captain, you and Ensign Sato are needed on the bridge," T'Pol said, "We're picking up a distress signal."

"We're on our way."

Archer got up and the two walked onto the bridge.

T'Pol turned as she rose from the captain's chair. "We have intercepted a distress signal 3.8 light years away."

Hoshi sat down at communications. "And it's getting weaker, sir," Hoshi said, "or further away. It's fluxuating bad."

"We've altered course?" Archer asked T'Pol.

"Yes."

"Proceed."

T'Pol returned to her station and Archer sat down, watching the view monitor. He saw the black hole before he saw the ship. Light from a nearby sun was being drawn into the black hole and it became intensely bright before disappearing into a black center. The sight of it instigated a fear reaction in Archer that, for a few seconds, he felt he'd nearly lose control of. He could see a ship slowly moving around the edge furthest from _Enterprise_. Archer swallowed hard, rising to his feet.

"Travis, full halt," Archer ordered, not hearing how dark his voice sounded, "Is that ship where the signal's coming from, Hoshi?"

"Yes, sir."

"It doesn't appear much bigger than a shuttle pod," Travis commented.

"T'Pol, how's the radiation look? Can we get near safely?"

"Only for a ten minutes. The occupants of the ship may be dead already."

"Well, we need to find out for sure. Got any ideas?"

T'Pol turned back to her viewer and began working out calculations. The lack of red hue hinted the ship wasn't too far in to help, but he wasn't about to risk _Enterprise_ on a guess.

"The ship is still far enough away from the event horizon that we may be able to use the grapple, but we we'll need to move closer and wait for the ship to orbit around." T'Pol turned her chair, looking up at Archer's stern expression.

"How long will the orbit take?"

"Two hours."

"Hold your position until it's near, Travis, then move in slow and keep your distance."

"I can make adjustments so the emergency release will activate before the ship can pull us in if the gravity pull is too strong, Captain."

"Go ahead."

Archer focused his mind on the rescue attempt but at the back of his mind, he was watching the black hole as if it might suddenly lunge out and swallow Enterprise. Archer slowly sat down to wait.

"It's coming around, Captain," Travis said.

"Keep us clear of the gravity pull, Travis. You've got nine minutes."

"Aye, sir."

Travis moved _Enterprise_ closer and stopped. "Grapple away. And she's a..." Travis held his breath a moment. "HIT! I got it!"

"Seven minutes," T'Pol informed Travis.

"Easy her out, Travis. The gravitational pull could tear it apart," Archer reminded him.

"Aye, sir."

"When you get it clear, move us safely away from the black hole."

"Aye, sir."

It felt like hours instead of minutes had passed while Travis pulled the ship out and backed _Enterprise_ away from the black hole.

"We are clear. Pulling it into shuttle bay two."

Archer finally allowed himself to relax as he stood. He smiled, looking at T'Pol and Hoshi, "T'Pol, Hoshi, let's go find out who we just rescued." Archer walked to the lift.

#

Archer stepped into the launch bay, staring at the craft. It was a patchwork of metal pieces taken from a variety of sources.

"Looks like a coat of many colors," Hoshi observed.

Archer smiled a little, his eyes following the two wings on either side made of a material he couldn't identify. He had never seen a craft like it before. The hatch made a sound of air being released and Archer moved around, laying his hand on the phase pistol at his hip. The hatch wheel turned and the door slowly rolled back. Inside the craft there was little light and a dark form stepped into the door.

"Hello," Archer said, hoping they knew English.

"Hello," the being replied, "You pulled us from the black hole?"

"Yes. We did."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. What is this?" Archer looked up at the wings.

"It is a solar glider."

Archer looked down and his breath caught. He stared at the Suliban. The man was holding onto the edge of the hatch for support and blood ran from his nose, eyes and ears.

"A solar glider?" Archer asked.

"Yes. It travels on currents of solar wind."

"I see."

The Suliban glanced at Hoshi and T'Pol and then back at Archer. "I am grateful for your help but we should depart."

"We?"

The Suliban nodded, looking down. Archer slowly approached him.

"You don't look well. Are you and the others on your ship sick?"

The Suliban looked up at Archer. "The children...I put them in a safe place...from the radiation. I..." The Suliban collapsed.

"Call Doctor Phlox," Archer ordered.

Hoshi ran to a companel to call for Doctor Phlox. Archer stepped into the glider. He looked around the small area, trying to figure out where the Suliban would have hidden children.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Archer said aloud, "but I need to know where you are so I can get you out. Your father is ill."

There was no sound. T'Pol stepped into the glider with a scanner in hand. She began scanning the glider. She pointed to a spot at the back of the ship. Archer walked to the back, looking at the wall for any sign of an opening or door.

"I need a flashlight, T'Pol," Archer said.

"Here," Trip said, stepping over the Suliban into the glider. Behind him, Doctor Phlox and another crewmen collected the Suliban and moved him away.

Archer took the flashlight Trip handed him and shone it on the wall.

"What are your looking for?" Trip asked.

"A door or a cover. He said he put his children somewhere safe from the radiation and T'Pol's scanner picked up something over here. It may not have been safe though; they didn't answer me."

"Could be scared."

Trip left and returned with another flashlight, looking over the other side of the wall.

"There," T'Pol said.

The men looked at her. She was pointing at the bottom of the wall. T'Pol pushed through them and crouched down. She sat her scanner down and carefully pulled off the cover. The men crouched down behind her as soon as she had the cover off. Two unconscious Suliban children lay inside and what appeared to be a half human, half Suliban child sat at the back. She was holding a black box with a flashing red LED to her chest and crying silently. She didn't look much older than six or seven years.

"Hi," Archer said, smiling at her.

She didn't reply.

"Do you understand me?" Archer asked her.

She didn't respond.

"Why don't you come out of there?" Trip asked.

She looked down. Archer looked at Trip. "Any ideas?"

T'Pol moved near the opening and extended her hand to the child. The girl looked up at T'Pol. T'Pol met her eyes.

"Trust me, child," T'Pol said.

The girl reached out her hand and placed it into T'Pol's. T'Pol gently closed her hand around the girl's and helped her out of the compartment. The girl immediately threw her arms around T'Pol's neck and held onto her, crying on her shoulder. T'Pol couldn't hide her discomfort.

"Why don't you carry her to Sickbay," Archer told T'Pol.

"I should scan this vessel."

"I think you have a larger responsibility, T'Pol," Archer told her.

T'Pol stood, holding the child to her. She left the glider. Archer moved next to the compartment and carefully lifted one of the Suliban children out and handed it to Trip. He picked up the other and the two headed to Sickbay with the children.

#

The Suliban regained consciousness fast and started to sit up. A hand was laid on his chest and gently pushed him back. He looked up at Archer standing beside his bed.

"You shouldn't move too fast. You had a little more radiation than you should have," Archer said.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Captain Jonathan Archer. We pulled you from the black hole."

"My grandchildren," the Suliban said, starting to get up.

"Easy," Archer said, again pushing him back. "They're fine. We found them. Your grandson was the sickest. The two girls seem to be more resilient, especially that half Suliban child."

The Suliban let out a soft sigh, closing his eyes. "My ship?"

"It's in our launch bay. It looks like it needs repairs, but I thought I'd let you recover before we bothered with that."

"Where are my grandchildren now?"

Archer looked up, letting out a sigh. "If I know Navta and Eartik, they're probably in a maintenance tunnels where they aren't supposed to be."

The Suliban looked at Archer. "There are children on your vessel?"

"Only two."

The Suliban smiled. "They will enjoy having playmates."

"I know that these last three days Navta and Eartik have."

"Three days? I've been here three days?"

"Yes. You'd been exposed to the black hole radiation too long. Our doctors are concerned you may suffer consequences later on from it."

"Luck has not been my friend of late."

Archer smiled. "Yes it has. We picked up your distress signal and--"

"There was no distress signal."

Archer picked up a small black box, holding it up. "It was this."

"Amy!" he sighed.

"Amy?"

"The half Suliban child is amazingly ingenious. If she had access to databases and the parts, she would have built a warp engine for the glider, I think. She loves to build things. I told her not to build a distress beacon."

"It's a good thing she did. It saved your life."

"Yes. I guess it did."

"What are your other grandchildren's names?"

"The girl is Darta, the boy is Yer."

"And your name?"

"Keva."

"Get some more rest, Keva." Archer leaned a little closer. "And don't argue with Doctor Phlox about leaving. He's been known to sedate patients that refuse to stay when he orders them to."

Keva smiled. "I'll bear that in mind. However, if my grandchildren are safe, I don't imagine I will be refusing your doctor's orders.

"Good." Archer turned and walked away. He spotted Doctor Phlox at a monitor. Doctor Phlox turned and followed Archer out into the hall.

"He isn't Kabal and neither are the two Suliban children," Doctor Phlox told Archer, "and I just concluded tests on the half Suliban. Her Suliban appearance, the yellow eyes and the patches of skin, are all hereditary; her DNA has not been tampered with. Her other half is human."

Archer heard laughing and looked down the hall. Eartik, Navta, Porthos, Darta, and Amy ran across the hall. Archer smiled.

"At least the girls will be alright," Doctor Phlox said.

"Yer isn't recovering, is he?" Archer looked at Doctor Phlox.

"The boy's name I assume?"

Archer nodded. "The Suliban's name is Keva. The other Suliban child is Darta and the half Suliban is Amy."

"It's going to be touch and go for another three or four days with Yer. While he's responding to treatment, it is too early to say with certainty the outcome."

"I don't understand how he could have been exposed to more radiation than the girls."

"My guess is Keva put Amy in first because he may have thought that her half human DNA wasn't as resistant to radiation as the Suliban are. She had less exposure than either the Suliban. Next, he put Darta in and lastly Yer. But Yer had as much radiation poisoning as Keva, so it may not have been until he detected Enterprise."

"Maybe. Only he can tell us the reasoning. Tell me if Yer turns for the worst."

Doctor Phlox nodded. Archer walked away.

#

Hoshi had long ago lost track of time. She didn't know how long she'd been sitting at the end of her bunk hugging a pillow and staring at the bedspread. She jumped when her doorbell beeped and looked at it. Hoshi looked away, hoping the person would go away. The doorbell beeped again. Hoshi closed her eyes a moment and then opened them. She looked down at the PADD beside her and picked it up. She'd at least make it look like she'd been reading rather than staring into space.

"Come in," Hoshi called.

She looked up, watching Trip walk in. Judging from his appearance, he'd just come from the recreation room and a hard game of basketball. Trip stopped inside the door, drawing in a deep breath.

"I dunno what you do in here, but I love how it always smells like the beach," Trip commented.

Hoshi smiled. "Everyone says that."

Trip walked over to a chair and sat down, smiling at her. "So what do you do?"

"That's a secret. Can't tell."

"Now what's with this secret stuff, Hosh? It's me. Your friend, pal, compadre, senior officer you're talking to. I am the know all, see all aboard this ship!"

Hoshi laughed. She was glad Trip had stopped because he always made her laugh.

"Know all, see all?"

Trip nodded as she asked the question. "See, I'm the know all, see all, except when it comes to most everything, that is."

"Oh! I see. That would put quite a damper on that know all, see all bit, sir."

Trip laughed. He wiped his face with the towel around his neck, looking back at a shelf of pictures. One caught his eye.

"Who's the kid?"

"My best friend's son."

"That's new."

"Yeah. I got it a couple weeks ago. She just had them taken."

"How old is he?"

"Seven."

"My nephew's age." Trip looked at Hoshi. "Does he get into as much mischief?"

Hoshi sat the PADD aside and turned to face Trip, laying the pillow in her lap. "I think he probably holds his own, but she doesn't tell me any of the bad stuff."

"Wish I could say that about my nephew. I _always_ get to hear about his mischief."

Hoshi nodded, looking down. The worry was starting to creep back into her mind and it was taking her humor with it.

"So, I hear you're a big celebrity back on Earth. My brother sent me a letter the other day and was talking about it. Might even get a library or school named after you."

"Oh great," Hoshi said, forcing a smile, "Sato Elementary. I'm sorry, but that doesn't sound right."

Trip watched her for a minute, without really saying much. Hoshi looked away, feeling suddenly uncomfortable in his presence and suspecting Archer had sent him to talk to her.

"I wanna have kids," Trip said.

Hoshi looked up at him.

"A whole slew of rug rats," Trip continued with a smile. "Course...that'd require a wife, wouldn't it?"

"It generally works better that way, sir. Men having babies is a bit difficult."

They both laughed.

"Difficult for _most_ men. We must never forget I managed it once."

Hoshi laughed. "I was assuming you were talking about a human, or Vulcan, wife."

"Ahhhhh! The secret's out. Can't pull the wool over your eyes, can I?"

"I know, but it's still a secret when I hear it from someone else. Have you two talked about marriage and kids yet?"

"Naw. Those are backburner issues."

Hoshi leaned back against the wall, looking around her quarters. She smiled a little. "I'm going to go back to teaching when I get back to Earth, find Mr. Right, have two kids, preferably a boy and a girl, and then settle down and rock my days away on the front porch facing the Pacific."

"Damn!" Trip laughed. "You have it all planned out, don't you? You gonna teach at the Academy?"

Hoshi's smile slid away as she sat up. She looked down at the pillow.

"You know," Trip leaned forward, looking frustrated, "Hoshi, I dunno what I'm saying here, but it seems I'm saying a lot of wrong things tonight."

"The Captain sent you to talk to me, didn't he?" Hoshi looked at Trip.

"No, the Cap'n didn't send me to talk to you. The only things I've talked to him about in the last three days are Suliban, a half human kid and how I can always beat him at basketball."

Hoshi closed her eyes when she felt the tears start to well up. One escaped and landed on her hand. She looked down at it.

"Hoshi, come on, talk to me. What's going on up there?"

"I don't want to be promoted, Trip."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not going to stay in Starfleet. When I get back, I'm going back to the University. I never want to be on another starship for the rest of my life."

"You don't like being on Enterprise?"

"No. I mean..." Hoshi looked at him. "I like Enterprise, and everyone on her is like family to me, but...I hate the battles, I hate the hostile aliens, I hate the unknown..." Hoshi sighed. "That pretty much sums it up right there, Trip. I hate the unknown. And we get a lot of that out here. I just want...simplicity and order and to know that when I wake up in the morning that I'm going to pretty much go through my daily routine without near death experiences. I'm just not the adventurer that everyone else is. I mean, I try...but..."

Trip smiled. "You said that the first few months you were on Enterprise. You've faired pretty well."

"There's a significant difference between fairing pretty well and actually enjoying it."

Trip let out a long breath, leaning back in the chair. "Yeah. There is." Trip put his arms on the chair arms. "So tell the Cap'n. Tell him you don't want the promotion."

"No," Hoshi shook her head, "and then I have to explain to eighty-one other people why I didn't accept the promotion they've all heard I've gotten. And..." Hoshi dropped her head to the side. "I don't want to disappoint him. Not after all this time. You should have seen him when he told me. I've seen him tell other crew they were promoted, Trip, and only a few times was he genuinely been excited for the person. I saw that look and I can't do that to him."

Trip smiled. "He respects you a lot, Hoshi. You've been there when he's needed you and when he hasn't. Hell, you took a bullet for him. Literally! I think he's grown rather fond of you in a plutonic sense."

Hoshi smiled. "Well, at least that's mutual."

"So if he's your friend," Trip leaned forward, "then _tell him_. I don't think he'll be disappointed and knowing the Cap'n like I know him, he'll probably come up with some great plan or at least a really good answer. If you do respect him, tell him, Hoshi. Tell him the truth."

Hoshi looked at Trip. "I don't want to disappoint him."

"You'd disappoint him by saying nothin', Hoshi. If he ever got wind of this, after the fact, he'd be disappointed then. Probably think you didn't trust him. Talk to him. See what he says. He's not going to get upset and I know he won't be disappointed. Give him the benefit of the doubt, Hoshi."

Hoshi frowned some, looking at her pillow. "Alright. I'll talk to him."

"Good. So...who _is_ Mr. Right?"

Hoshi laughed, telling Trip about a man she hoped was single when she got back to Earth.

#

Archer turned the corner with Keva and Trip just as Navta bunny hopped around it and ran into him. Navta stepped back, smiling up at him.

"Hi K'pan!" Navta flung her arms around his middle, hugging him.

Archer looked up to find Darta, Yer and Amy standing in the hall with Eartik and Porthos.

"Morning, Navta," Archer said.

"This is K'pan!" Navta said, grabbing Archer's hand and hugging his arm. She looked back at the three children.

"We've met, Navta," Archer told her.

Navta leaned close to Archer, whispering, "You're supposed to pretend you've met them for the first time, K'pan. I'm Earth's ambassador and I'm showing these other ambassadors around."

"Oh," Archer whispered back with a smile. He looked at the four. "Welcome aboard Enterprise, ambassadors."

The children laughed.

Navta grabbed Archer's hand. "Can I eat with Amy, Darta and Yer? Likos told Eartik he could and we wanna get our own table and pretend we're conducting a very important peace treaty. Chef said he'd even give us really nice stuff so we could. Can I? Please?"

"Yes."

Navta hopped up and down excitedly. "THANK YOU!" Navta hugged him again and then turned. The five started down the hall at a run with Porthos barking as he followed.

"NO RUNNING IN THE HALLS!" Archer yelled.

The five slowed to a fast walk until they were around the corner and Archer heard them take off at a run. He smiled, knowing that if anyone could get information out of the children, Navta was the one to do it.

"She's your daughter?" Keva asked.

"Not really."

"Did you know her parents?"

"No. It's a long story. Let's go see what the hold up is." Archer motioned Keva to continue walking down the hall.

"The children have enjoyed having other children to play with. It is good that repairs are taking as long as they are." Keva looked sidelong at Archer. "I'm glad that Yer has recovered."

Archer nodded. "For that it is good. They've had a lot of fun these last three days."

"T'Pol to Archer."

"Excuse me." Archer walked over to a companel and tapped it. "Archer here."

"Report to the bridge, Captain. We have a situation."

"I'm on my way." Archer looked back at Trip. "Trip?"

"This way, Keva," Trip said and the two walked away.

Archer headed for the lift. When he stepped onto the bridge, he found T'Pol standing in front of the captain's chair with a deep look of concern. On the view monitor was a ship he hadn't seen before.

"What is it?" Archer asked.

"We are being hailed. I told them I would have to wait for you to come to the bridge," T'Pol said.

"You can handle it."

"They're looking for a Suliban with two Suliban children and a half breed Suliban child." T'Pol looked at Archer. "I felt it would be better that you handle this situation, Captain, in case fabrication of truth was required."

"Hoshi, on screen."

The view monitor changed. The alien on the screen had a mass of black hair that was pleated into braids and adorned with an array of metal pieces. He was dressed in several layers of loose robes. He had what looked like three slits on each cheek that rose and fell with each breath.

"I am Captain Fosip. I am looking for a Suliban with three children."

"We haven't seen any. What are they traveling in?" Archer asked.

"We are not certain. Are you certain you haven't seen them?"

"We haven't seen much in the last few days. A few gas planets and there was a black hole three days ago. We detected a distress signal from it but when we go there, there was no sign of anything."

"If you do detect them, alert us immediately. They must be returned to the detention center."

"Children in a detention center?" Archer asked.

"That is none of your concern. Alert us if you find them."

"We will," Archer said.

The view monitor went back to the space view and he watched the ship in front of them jump to warp.

"Hoshi, call Keva to my ready room."

Archer headed for his ready room to wait.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

Keva walked into the ready room, watching Archer as he entered.

"Please, have a seat." Archer motioned to the chair across from his own.

"I'll stand. Thank you."

"For a quick get away?"

Keva didn't reply.

"That was a joke."

"You didn't call me here to joke, Captain Archer."

"No I didn't. Keva, we just met some people looking for you and the children. Oddly, they don't know what you're traveling in, however. Did you steal your ship?"

Keva didn't reply.

"Keva, you seem like a good father to--"

"Grandfather; I do believe I've mentioned that. Amy's parents were killed with the Yer and Darta's parents, leaving them in my care."

"Speaking of Amy, why does she look like she does? She looks half human."

"She is half human. Her father was human and her mother was Suliban."

"As far as I know, we're the first humans in this part of space. Was she another Suliban DNA experiment gone wrong?"

"She certainly was not! You are not the first humans in this area. Humans have been here for nearly a hundred years. They arrived in a transporter and were the third generation of the original crew to leave Earth. They were--"

"The Pegasus," Archer said.

"I beg your pardon?"

"The transporter was called the Pegasus. They left Earth right after our last war, claiming humanity was destined for destruction. They were never heard from again, but that ship... It was using an experimental hydrogen fusion engine capable of sub-warp speeds. It couldn't have possibly reached here."

"It could after three generations. Her father was well into his years when they reached our system. The transporter had some kind of malfunction and was forced to land on our planet. She was with the first generation on our planet."

Archer nodded. "So these people are after _her_?"

"No. They're after me."

"Why?"

"I am a geneticist, but I refuse to do the work they want me to. Can you believe they actually want to speed up the Suliban evolution?" Keva didn't wait for Archer to answer as he unleashed his anger and frustration. "We have been colonists on Dryad for nearly two thousand years and we have lived peacefully and content. We have caused no problems and we have not interfered with the development of other Suliban cultures. We have remained as we are and turned our backs on their ways! My work was to produce healthy livestock and crops with higher yields for the growing population. We have done work on Suliban, but not for the work that these Suliban wanted from us! We did it to lower the birth mortality rate and eradicate diseases. We have never wanted to hasten our evolution and then these Suliban come from who knows where and expect us to start altering genes. And when we didn't..." Keva sank into the chair, dropping his head.

"They all say they don't blame us, but we do. We refused repeatedly to aid them and they attacked the colonies. They destroyed them and sent us to a detention center on a space station orbiting a methane planet and run they the Muir. They made everyone work; man, women, children, elderly, disabled...it didn't matter. We were dying in droves. Then they started to force the humans to work harder and kill them for no reason. So we revolted. We made solar gliders that could get past the Muir defense lines because they had no technology or energy emissions that could be detected. They would look like asteroids and we would have to rely on the solar winds to get us somewhere. Anywhere. It scattered us, but at least we were free. The children still have nightmares, especially poor Amy. They nearly killed her twice when they began beating her." Keva closed his eyes. "You have met these other Suliban, haven't you Captain Archer?"

"Yes."

Keva looked at him. "Why are they doing this? Why do they want these DNA changes? What is the purpose of them?"

"I don't know. I don't understand it myself."

"They can't have those children. Please, if you do anything, Captain, help me to spare the children."

Archer leaned forward, meeting Keva's eyes. "They aren't getting any of you, Keva. We'll think of something."

Keva looked down. "Thank you. I'm glad that these repairs are taking unusually longer than they should now."

Archer smiled. "So am I."

Keva stood and left. Archer turned looking at space as he tried to decide whether he believed Keva's story or not.

#

Amy looked up when Keva walked into the guest quarters. He stood for a moment, watching Darta, Yer and Amy color.

"Darta, Yer, I need you to come with me."

"Me too?" Amy asked.

"No, Amy. Stay here."

Keva stopped in the door, quietly ordering the two children to stay where they were. He went back and knelt down beside Amy.

"Amy."

She looked up at him.

"Do you remember your brother?"

"Not really. I haven't seen him for a long, long time, Grandpa."

Keva sat a small PADD down by her arm. The picture showed an older boy and a man and woman holding a toddler in front of a domed house. He smiled.

"You should find him some day, Amy. I bet he misses you."

"I miss him too."

Keva reached down, laying his hand on her head. "I love you, Amy."

Amy smiled up at him. "I love you to Grandpa."

Keva smiled, kissing her forehead. "Be a good girl."

"I will be. I'll be right here when you get back."

"Yes. Of course." Keva's smile vanished. "Stay here."

"Okay."

Keva stood and left Darta and Yer. Amy turned back to her coloring.

#

"Captain, the bay doors with Keva's solar glider are opening," T'Pol said, "I'm trying to close them, but they aren't responding."

Archer turned away from Malcolm

"Is there anyone in there?"

"I'm reading three bio-signs. All three are Suliban."

"You mean three Suliban and one human, right?"

T'Pol looked at him. "No. Three Suliban. No human."

"Trip," Archer said as he ran to the lift.

#

The two men ran into the control room above the loading bay, seeing doors were almost open all the way. The two turned to the controls and tried to shut the doors.

"DAMN IT!" Trip yelled, "He's locked us out of the controls, Captain." Trip smacked the controls as he spun around.

Archer turned, watching the glider drop out of the doors and be picked up by a solar wind. Archer reached toward the companel. He looked at Trip when he heard the engine's whine down. Archer tapped the companel.

"Archer to T'Pol."

"The engines have gone offline and the grapple lines are locked, Captain. He overrode all systems. There appears to be a delay on everything but there is no indication how long the delay is."

"Long enough for him to get away, I'm sure. And with no ion trail, we'd be hunting a pigeon in the dark. This area is full of solar currents. Are the scanners still on line?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Scan his quarters."

There was a pause. "There is one bio-sign present. It reads as human."

"He abandoned Amy!" Trip said. "How could he do that to her? She's a six year old child!"

"Six year old, mostly human, child, abandon on a human ship, Trip. Do the math."

Trip looked down at the doors. "She's going to be heartbroken. You want me to handle this?"

"No. I'll do it."

Archer left the control room.

#

Amy turned when she heard the door open and smiled, watching Archer walk up to her. He stood for a moment, his head cocked to the side so he could see her drawing. Archer sat down beside her.

"This looks like T'Pol."

Amy smiled. "It is." Amy looked at her picture. "She's working. See the monitor here? And over here is Hoshi. She's talking to this guy here on the screen. This is you."

Archer smiled. "We look busy."

"Yep!" Amy went back to coloring.

Archer looked down, thinking for a few minutes. He looked up at Amy's face. "How long have you been in here, Amy?"

"I dunno."

"Have you seen Keva?"

"Yeah. He came and had Darta and Yer go with him. They're probably in trouble. Darta always gets in trouble."

"He didn't say anything to you? Didn't ask you to go with him?"

"No. He told me to wait here."

"That was all?"

"Yeah."

"Nothing else?"

"He gave me this." Amy sat up, picking up a PADD and showing it to Archer. "That's my brother, and my aunt, and these two are my cousins. My brother gave it to him when we left the bad place on our ships. He told Keva we'd meet up some day and we'd live like a family again, even though dad wasn't with us anymore. I bet we'll get a house just like--"

"Amy?"

"Yeah?" Amy picked up another marker and started coloring.

Archer reached down and slowly pulled the marker from her hand. She looked up at him.

"What's wrong, Captain Archer?"

Archer didn't reply.

Amy got up on her knees. "Am I in trouble?"

"No. You're not in trouble." Archer swallowed, looking down a moment. "Amy...Keva left."

"I know. He took Darta and Yer--"

"No, Amy. They got on their ship and they left. They didn't tell us they were going. He overrode the computer so we couldn't stop him. He took Darta and Yer, they left, and he left you here with us."

Amy looked down.

"Amy?"

"He left me? He left me here?"

"Yes."

Amy started crying. Archer gently pulled her into his arms and onto his lap, holding and rocking her. Suddenly she burst free and ran out of the guest quarters. Archer didn't follow her. He could only imagine what being abandoned must feel like.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

"T'Pol," Archer said, walking up to her station.

T'Pol turned her chair.

"Have _you_ seen Amy?"

"No. I have not."

"No one has!" Archer looked around the bridge.

"I'm sure she is still on board."

"No one has seen her in two days." Archer looked at T'Pol. "Can you run a bioscan?"

"No. She reads as human and we don't have her DNA profile. I would not find her."

Archer frowned. "Hoshi, call all free hands to the bridge."

"Aye, sir."

#

T'Pol stopped and scanned a closed service door. She turned and continued walking along the maintenance tunnel, stopping at each door to scan behind them for any biological readings. T'Pol reached the last door of the tunnel and her scanner lit up with a confirmed scan. T'Pol opened her communicator.

"Captain."

"Go ahead."

"I believe I found her. I'm in maintenance tunnel G10 and service entrance X42."

"See if you can talk to her."

T'Pol looked at her communicator. "I do not believe I would be adequate at consoling her, Captain."

"_Try_. Everyone else is clear on the other side of the ship. She hasn't eaten or drank anything for three days, T'Pol. Try to coax her into going to the mess hall."

T'Pol looked at the door.

"T'Pol?"

"I will attempt to console her, Captain."

"That's all I'm asking, T'Pol. Just remember she's not a Vulcan. She's part Suliban and human; she's going to be very emotional."

T'Pol closed her communicator and put it in her other hand with the scanner. She reached out and entered the security code for the door. It clicked open and swung back a few millimeters. T'Pol slipped into the room, spotting Amy lying on the floor with her back to the door. T'Pol approached the child, kneeling beside her.

"Amy," T'Pol said.

She didn't respond. She drew a shaky breath, putting her hands over her face. T'Pol's lips pressed together and she looked back at the door.

"Why'd he leave me?" Amy whispered. "What did I do? Do you think if I fix whatever I did he'd come back and take me with him?"

T'Pol looked around at Amy's back.

"I do not believe you did anything wrong, Amy. He simply desired you stay here."

"Why?"

"I am uncertain."

"I did something wrong. He wouldn't have left me if I didn't."

"As I..." T'Pol stopped, looking at the floor. She knew she was doing a terrible job of comforting the child. T'Pol flicked open the communicator in her hand and stared at it for a several long minutes. She flicked it closed. "I believe Keva desired you to stay with ones similar to your own kind, Amy. He felt you might be more comfortable here and safer. These are the opinions of Captain Archer and several other crewmen."

"Do you think that's why?"

"I cannot be certain without talking directly to Keva."

"Do you think he's going to come back?"

"I cannot say."

"I was bad. I know I was and that's what made him leave"

"I do not believe you acted in such a way that made him decide to leave you here."

"How can you be certain?"

"I never saw you behave in a way that was inappropriate, disruptive or deviant, Amy. Therefore, I do not believe that was the reason he left you here."

Amy was silent for a while. T'Pol looked up, hearing a sound in the tunnel, but no one appeared in the door. She looked back at Amy.

"I would like you to accompany me to the mess hall, Amy."

Amy didn't move. T'Pol looked back at the door, wondering what was taking the others so long.

"Maybe he was mad because I said I liked it here with the humans and the Jit and you and Doctor Phlox."

T'Pol looked around at Amy. "You do?"

"Yeah. None of you have treated me like I was something bad. And Navta and Eartik play with me and they share their things with me. Darta and Yer never did that."

"Perhaps that statement made him feel comfortable with his decision to leave you with us."

"Abandon me with you. Like I was trash."

T'Pol softly sighed. She felt like she was making no progress and it was frustrating her. T'Pol looked back at the communicator in her hand, debating about what she should do now. She looked back at Amy when she heard the child sniff. T'Pol recalled a time she had seen Navta crying. Archer had laid his hand on her head and stroked the young Jit's hair. The action had effectively worked at comforting the child.

T'Pol reached down and gently stroked Amy's hair. Suddenly Amy sat up and crawled into T'Pol's lap, wrapping her arms around T'Pol's neck and bursting into tears with her face pressed into T'Pol's shoulder. T'Pol, surprised by the action, sat still for several minutes. She sat the scanner and communicator beside her and gingerly put her arms around Amy. Slowly her grip tightened until she was firmly holding the child to her. T'Pol recalled Archer doing the similar thing with Navta and she had overheard what he was saying when he spoke in whispers to her. T'Pol tucked her chin and spoke quietly to Amy, repeating the words she recalled hearing Archer say.

In the maintenance tunnel Archer tilted his head toward the door, catching some of what T'Pol was telling the child. He smiled, thankful she had let her guard down enough to console Amy. Archer slowly got up and crept away.

#

Hoshi wished there was a clock, or some other noise other than the drone of the engines to fill the silence of Archer's ready room. She didn't understand what his silence meant, but he hadn't spoken since she'd stopped talking and it was worrying her.

"I'm not disappointed, for one," Archer finally said. "Not in the least." Archer met her gaze.

"Sir, I--"

"Hey! You had your five minutes, now it's my turn."

Hoshi had to smile at his joke. Archer returned it. He turned his chair and without getting out of it, walked over to her so they were face to face.

"I respect your plans for when I get back. You know, now that I have entertained the thought, I realize I don't have any plans. I don't think many people on this ship do. So I'm glad to hear that you do, and you're an excellent teacher, Hoshi. You excel at it. There's no reason why you shouldn't make it your career. I am sad to hear you won't be teaching at the Academy, but that's your choice and I would be wrong to try to persuade you any other way." Archer smiled. "Now about the promotion. Accept it. Just because you accept it doesn't mean you're expected to stay in Starfleet and especially not by me. And believe me, I know that you came on board white knuckles around the edges of your seat." Archer chuckled. "Do you know that most of the time we go to warp I can still remember you telling me they need to put seat belts on the seats? I always think about that."

Hoshi laughed, shaking her head. "I didn't know that."

"Well I do. You've made an impression a lot of the crew and me, Hoshi. I want you to accept this promotion because it says a lot about you. You've earned it. I think you earned it four years ago, but every time I submitted the request it was turned down."

"You've made requests for my promotion before now?" Hoshi asked, surprised by the information.

"Yes!" Archer laughed. "You've earned it, Hoshi. Are you hearing me? Long before you were saving crewmen in floods, stealing ice cream," he and Hoshi both laughed, "or putting your life before mine, you had earned it. On the same note, I also won't force you to accept it and I would respect your decision."

"But I'll have to do more work, sir," Hoshi said with a sly smile.

"Well, there is that." Archer smiled. "And you may find yourself suddenly in charge of the bridge if you're the only senior officer on it, but short of that there won't be a lot of changes. I want you right where you've always been on my bridge. I'm comfortable when you're there and so is the rest of the bridge crew. So take it. And when we get back to Earth, I'll write you a gleaming letter of recommendation and pull all the strings needed to get you your position at the university."

Hoshi smiled. "Promise, sir?"

"Oh yeah."

Hoshi nodded. "In that case I'll accept it."

"Thank you."

Hoshi nodded. The two stood and Archer held his hand out to her. Hoshi took it and they shook hands. She turned to leave and stopped, turning back to him.

"Sir?"

"Yeah?"

"Permission to speak freely, sir?"

"Granted."

"Don't take this the wrong way, sir," Hoshi said and then threw her arms around his neck in a vicious hug. "THANK YOU!"

Archer laughed, hugging her back. "You are welcome, Hoshi!" Archer sighed, patting the back of her head. "You're welcome."

Hoshi let go, falling back two steps. Archer smiled at the bright smile she was wearing.

"I just have to ask you one question, sir."

"What's that?"

"Do I have to still call you sir and Captain when I'm out of Starfleet?"

"No."

"That'll be nice. Good-day, sir." Hoshi spun and strode out of the ready room with a smile.


End file.
